If you’re seeking a recipe for success, you need look no further than what works at Miles Construction.
The company has recently marked 8 years as a Keystone Key Scholarship partner. It also boasts a 90 per cent retention rate of alumni who have started as interns and gone on to fulltime employment.
Chief executive officer Mark Farrell says it’s the perfect fit. “The people who apply for a scholarship are a certain type who really want to do well and are pretty focused on success.The students we’ve had come into the business from Keystone have been a fantastic mix,” he says.
That has something to do with the screening process, which is done impeccably well, Mark adds.
The company, established in Christchurch 20 years ago by founder Alastair Miles, also now has offices in Wellington and Auckland. It offers build, design and project management services across all sectors. Throughout, there has always been a belief that the company needs to be able to give back to the community, says Mark.
This explains the decision by Alastair Miles to become a Keystone sponsor in the first place. “Alastair would have seen it as a worthy cause with an opportunity to give back; to grow the younger people.”
Miles Construction also wants to support the industry for the next wave of people wanting to get into construction – something its founder also advocated from the start. As an illustration, Mark Farrell tells the story of one “superstar” Keystone scholar who had started as an intern and then gained full employment as a site manager and then a project manager. “He just ticked all the boxes for what Miles is all about.”
But there was more to come. “ I remember Alastair talking to me about this individual – but in the same breath he said ‘we’ve [also] taken this person on and this person on’.” All of them were Keystoners.
“You look at these team members and they follow the same theme: you can see how they’re going to rapidly progress through the business because they’ve got that right mindset.”
Alastair Miles has now stepped back from the operational side of the business but is still involved at board level. Every now and then he pops into the office for a day or so. His original Keystone commitment continues to be championed by the current senior management team.
It’s often said by students that the Keystone relationship goes well beyond the financial contribution. From this sponsor’s point of view, there’s also a connection that runs deep.
“What Keystone does very well is they’ve got that underlying professionalism but they’re very personable. They don’t just throw you a candidate and then it’s ‘goodbye’. They understand your business. And when we do get a candidate, there’s follow-up with the candidate, so I think it gives them a lot of insight into what’s working and what’s not working.”
Twenty years as a company; 8 as a Keystone sponsor. What lies ahead?
Says Mark: “We really value the relationship with Keystone, it really has proven itself. We’re looking forward to continuing being involved with Keystone and seeing more young people come to the industry and how we can support them.”
